Traffic-signaling system



A. W. KENT.

TRAFFIC SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MARY 5. ran.

1 ,357,s75 Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

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A. w. KENT. TRAFFIC SHiNAHNG SYSTEM. APPUCA'HON HLED MAR-5,1917- n wrzv 16 liiiliimuwilhflimmml Eli 17 \H WARM m W. 31% Emma m Mk UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE.

ALEXANDER W. KENT, DE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO C. K. HERSHEY, OFLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

TRAFFIC-SIGNALING SYSTEM.

Application filed Mhreh 5,

e it known that l. .\|.i-;. v.\.\'nr.u \Y. KENT, a ritizen ol the l nited States. residing at Los- .\ngeles. in the eountv of Los Angeles and State of California. have invented a new and useful Improvement infIrailie-Signaling Systems. of whieh the following is a speritieation.

.\l v invention relates to trafiie signals and has for its ohjeet the provision of a set of signaling deviees mounted 'at the street interseetion r'or regulating the tratlie. ttN'll of the signaling devires heing mounted at separate eorners of the iuterseetion just inside oi" the eurh line. and eonneetions heing provided for operating the signals at the will of the trallie olfieer or operator.

further ohieet of this invention is to provide an efiieient signaling means romposed of several units and arranged so as to permit the operation of the signaling units in pairs for elea ring the interseetion of the vehieles moving in a single direetion while the vehieles moving in the other direction may he stopped. or eapahle of simultaneous operation. as conditions may require.

A further ohjeet. is to provide pivoted semaphore heads for the signaling .units whieh may he readily removed from their supports at will and whirl] may he eapahle of movement on their supports, when for any reason. the tops on superstruetln'es of the vehirl s may eollide with or engage the semaphores held therehy. so as to prevent damage to the signals.

further ohjeet is to provide means for 1'(\'Ullll)l supporting the semaphores on the heads for intermittent movement about their axes for starting and stopping the traflie. for lighting the interiors of thesemiiphores at night or when neeessary and for other-. wise heating the interiorsot' the semaphores during rold weather so thatr ire o r snow may not eolleet tllt't'tln l andthus ohseure. the. signals. i

A further ohjeet is-fo provide. a series of solenoids lonoperating the semaphores and r-oiHu-etions therefor whieh will permit the seleetiveoperation of the several signaling units by pairs so as to provide opposing signals-tor the different direetions. in. w hieh the lralliWmovi-s.

l'u'rther ohjeel is to provide a suitahlo rushioning means for the semaphore operatiug means eonnerted with the armatures of Specification of Letters Patent.

'atented Nov. 2, 1920.

1917. Serial No. 154,041.

the solenoids for preventing any jar or shoek to the operating parts, thus insuring against damage thereto. Other objects will appear in the detailed deseription of iuy improved system.

teterring to the drawings. Figure 1 is an elevation of one of the signaling units omplete. Fig. 2 is a seetional plan of the same on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged rear elevation of one of the semaphore supportsshowing the supporting hraeket in seetion aml the operating means mounted thereon. Fig. 4 is a seetional elevation of Fig. I! on a plane at right angles thereto. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal fragmentarv seetion of one of the semaphores showing the means for supporting the lamp therein. Fig. 6 is a seetion of Fig. 5 on the line 6- 6.

Fig. 7 is a perspeetive view of one of the semaphores. Fig. 8 is a transverse seetion of the same. Fig. 9 is a seetional elevation of one of the semaphore heads eomplete. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of Fig. 9, partly hroken away at points to show ohseured features. Fig. 11 is a plan of Fig. 9 with the housing shown in seetion. Fig. 12 is an enlarged s'eetional elevation of the plunger dash pot employed on earh of the heads for eushioning the impart of the plunger. Fig. [3 is a seetional plan of Fig. [2.

Fig. 14 is perspeetive view of a street intersertion showing the signaling units in position at the several eoriners of the intersertion and the semaphores set. for indieating'the movement of the traffic in the direetion of the arrows on the eross street. Fig. 15 is a eireuit diagram showing the eleetrieal eonner'tious hetween the several elements of my devi e, Fig. 113 is a front open view of the eontroller hos. Fig. l? is a sertional elevation of Fig. H3. and Fig. IR is a. seetional plan of the same.

Similar rhariu-ters ol' referenre are used in the several views of the drawings and in the speeilieations l'or indieating the same or like parts.

liarh of' the signaling units is eomposed i may be dispensed with when the, wires are JltlLBtl umlerirrouml. the wires in such ease icing brought upwardly from the conduits below the surface of the ground through the columns 1 and the bases 2 which support the rohunns.

A selected one of the signaling units may he used as a master unit for operating the semaphore thereon and all of the other semaphores and a controller box 7 is provided for the master unit which may be suitably attached to the rolunin i; also a main switch Bmay he provided therefor and suitably attached to the column 1' or to the cross arm support 5, to whirh'the line wires for supplying the eleetrie rurrent for the electrically actuated operating means may be runneeted. as shown in Fig. 1. Suitable fuses 9 may also be connected with the line wires for preventing the burning out of the coils and other electrical elements which will he hereinafter described.

Each of the heads 3 has a cast channeled standard lfl with a. flat circular top 11 and a base 12 which is provided with an annir lar rih 1 for supporting the circular lions in;' 14. lhe upper surface oi the base]? is concave so as to drain the oil which may he used for lubricating and other purposes hereinafter described to the center of the base and the lower surface of the base has two helieally inclined surfaces 15 and 15 which correspond to and are adapted to seat on the similar surfaces It) and lti'of the flanged support 17 which is attached to the upper end of the column 1 by means of one or more set screws 18, or otherwise. A depending boss 19 is formed on the base 12 and extends downwardly into the hollow of the pipe or column 1 and is pro ided on the end with a big 20 to which is attached one end of a spring 21, the lower end of this spring being attached to a bolt or pin 22 which is rigidly held in the column. The spring 21 thus holds the head in resilient and frictional contact with the supporting' flange 17 on the column, and when the head is turned on the column the base 12 will be raised slightly by means of the sliding eontact. between the inclined surfaces 15 and 1!" with the surfaces 16 and 16' on the support 17. The angularity of the surfaces 1.) and 15 and 16 and 16 should be sufficient as to insure the prompt restoration of the head 3 to normal position, by means of the tension V of the spring 21, when the head is released,

and as will be hereinafternrore elearly described, it will. never become necessary to turn the head on the rolumn. more than one uartei' of a. revolution and this will prevent t e disengagement oi the respective inclined surfaces on the base 12 and thesupport 17. Th top 11 of the base supports a solenoid 23, iii re master unit shown in Fig. 1, and si mi liir solenoids 24, 25 and 26 in the other units, which are centrally positioned thereon. and are attached thereto by means of clamps 27 held by screws 28. An armature 29 is 'n'ovided for each of the solenoids which is movable in the hollow ill) of the solenoids and through the central openings 31 in the tops 11. A vertically movable plunger rod 32 is slidably supported in bearings 33, 34 and 3-1 formed on the standards 10 at convenient intervals. The upper ends of the rods 32 are pivoted to the lower ends of the armatures 29.

The boss 19 on the base 12 of each of the heads, has a central bore 23.? forming a chamber therein which is closed at the lower end and is adapted to hold a quantity of oil. The upper end of the chamber 255 terminates in the concave surface of the base and is covered by means of a leather washer $56 and a rap 3? which is attarhed to the base 12 by means of screws 38. The plunger rod 32 extends downwardly through and is slid able in the cap 37 and is provided in the chamber 35 with a dash 39 ha ring a circular bottom 41) slightly less in diameter than the chamber 35 and a stirrup -11 which is suitably attached td the lower end of the rod 52. A central opening: 42 is formed in the bottom of the dash which is normally covered by a disk 43 which has notches 41 at opposite points on its periphery for slidahly engagin r the sides of the stirrup 41. lhus when tie rod 32 is moved upwardly the disk 43 will, by means of the pressure of the oil in the chamber 35, he forced tightly against the upper side of the bottom 4b of the dash, but a downward movement of the rod will move the dish upwardly from the bottom and permit the oil to flow through the opening 42. The oil in the ehamber 35. when the plunger rod 32 is operatedhy the armature 29 of the solenoid, thus serves as a butter or cushion for the armature. and prevents shock and damage thereto, but when the rod restored to normal position, the resistance to the move ment of the plunger is minimized by the flow of the oil through the bottom of the. dash. The purpose ofthis feature will be brought out more clearly as the description progresses.

About midway between the to) and bottom of the standard 10 on each 0 the heads, I provide a bracket 45 which is attached to the sides of the standards by means of bolts or screws 46 extending through the legs 4 Each of the brackets has an outwardly extending, boss 48 and a shorter inwardly extending lug: 49. The outer bosses are provided with counterbores 50 which communicate with the bores 51 of the inner bosses and a spindle 52 having the large outer portion 52', the central reduced portion 53 adapted to seat in the counterbore 50 and the inner reduced portion 53'adapted taunt end in the bore 51. extends entirely through the hraeket and the hosses thereon and the outer thereof is hored out to reeeive the smaller spindle ."i-l whieh has a stili smalier hore 55, while the inner end is hored to correspond to the hore 55 and is threaded to reeeive a out it; at the inner end. The outer end 52 of the larger spindle 52 has a note-h 57 formed therein to reeeive a key 58 suitahlv attaehed to the smaller spindle 5-1 i t whu'h is extended at the outer end through attaehed h v means (it serews (:4 to the flange ()5 of the lamp support titi loosely held on the inner end of the spindle Til hetween the boss (37 and the set eollar U the lamp la ing eonneeted with the lighting eirenit h means of wires (it) and on whieh are ere tended through the hore 5.) in the spindle 5+ and the similar bore in the spindle 52. The lamp support titi has a pair of arms whielreonnw-t the liange of the support to whieh the lamp sorket is attaehed to the huh ot' the support. and the arms are so pared as to permit the insertion of the set i-ollar (1H into position on the spindle Bl.

wrist plate T1 having three arms T2. :3 and H formed thereon. is loosely hind on the inner end of the spindle 52 between the' nut 56 and the ratehet T5 \\'lli('ll is tightly held on the spindle by means of a vset serew Ti). or otherwise. The ratehet has four teeth ilud is adapted to he moved a quarter of a revolution at ttttll operation of the pawl T? \vhieh is pivoted to the arm T2 on the wrist plate Tl. a spring 78 of light ten sion heiug provided for holding the pawl in engagement with the ratehet.

The lower arm 73 of the wrist plate is pivoted on a serew T9 to the lower end of the eonnerting rod Htl. \vhieh is attaehed hy n has of a similar serew or pin to the rol- ]m- H] loosely held on the plunger rod 132 het ween the two set eolla rs Hi3 and R2 ahove the hraeket -15. this eonneetion serving to movethe wrist plate Tl and the ratehet T5 a l'ull quarter ol a revolution with eaeh up ward movement of the rod 32.

The arm Tl on the wrist plate T! is piv otally attaehed to the squared portion 83 of the vertieally slidahle rod H4 by means ot a serew or pin 85 extending through the slot 86 in the arm. and the rod R4- is held in hearings T and 87' formed on the inner side of the liraeket 4:"). in order that the resistanre to the movement of the piunger rod 32 may he minimized and to prevent the ratehet T5 from turning when the rod It: is restored to normal position. i provide a lever HH whieh is pivoted on a srrew R9 to the inner side of the bracket 45. is extended 1,357,870 h t a downwardly to a point substantially, below the hraeket 45. and is eonnected at its lower end with the lower end of the rod 84 by means of a liar ti l pi votaliy heid on screws 91 at opposite ends. The lever 88 when in normal position is parallel with the rod 84 and the eonneeting liar or link 9 assumes a diagonal position with respect thereto. as shown in Fig. 3; hut when the rod H4 is moved downwardl v in its hearings by the wrist plate 71, as the rod 32 is moved up wardl by the armature of the solenoid. the lever 88 is fort-ed outwardly until the hat 9t! assumes almost a trne. "iorizontal posi' tion. as indieated by broken lines in Fig. 3. The liar or lever HH cart-is a roller 9:2 at a point opposite the ratchet Ti whieh is in the plane of and is adapted t engage the teeth of the ratehet tor loeking the movable parts against movement when the rod 3) is stationary. but as the rod 32 hegins its upward movement and the rod R-t its downward movement the lever 99 is gradually moved outwardi from its normal position and the lniliPi t'rom engagement with the ratehet T5. thus rediieing the trirtion on the ratehet. T5 and minimizing the eti'ort required to operate the rod 3;. As the rod 312 hegins its don nwa rd movem nt however. the lever 88 i gradnailv restored to normal position and the r ller 5 :2 to engagement with the ratehet; Th. thus preventing the hat-lcward movement of the rateh t when the parts are heing restored to normal position. in the drawings. the reiative positions and the extent of luovenw-nt of the perating parts are somewhat exaggerated for elarity. but it oh rions that the extent of movement of the lever RH and the roiler 92 should he ralenlan-d so as to insure the aeeomplishment oi" the olijerts thereof. it is iilcewise apparent that inasmm-i as the periphery of ratehet teeth is in the form of an evolute eurve. preterahlv. a very slight movement of the lever is required to move the roller 92 to eorrespoad to the \IH'VP of the teeth. and the arrangement should he sin'h as to pro vent the disengagement of the roller from the ratehet and to merely eompensate for the moveon-nt of the ratehet so as to reduee the trietion and resistanee to the movement; of the plunger.

The operation of the semaphore heads is regulated and aeeomplished by means of the eontroller whieh is mounted in the hm: 7 and is eomposed of a slate or fiber base 95 suitahly attaehed to the rear wall of the hex. and the in lieators 96 and 97 having the eontaeta 9H and 99 assoeiated therewith. as shown in Figs. iii. 1? and 18. The. indiea tors: eomprise metallie levers having hard ruhher or iiher huttons 10H suitably attached thereto and the lower ends of the ievers are piioted hv means of the stems 1m to the aise an. Heetors' UL and 103 of copper or brass are secured to the base 95 by means of screws 104 and 1115 and are adapted to be at all times in. firm contact with the levers $16 and 97 of the indicators, respectively. The sector 102 is connected by means of one of the screws 10-1 and the bus bar 166 on the bottom of the base 95 with the terminal 167, and the sector 103 is similarly connected with the terminal 108 by means of one of the screws 105 and the bus bar 109.

The contacts 98 and 99 are composed of springs secured at their lower and outer ends to the base 95 by means of bolts 11(] and 111, respectively, and are provided with buttons 112 of fiber or hard rubber at their upper ends above the fulcrum ends of the levers 96 and 97. The contact 518 is connected with the terminal 113 by means of the bolt 1111 and the bus bar 114, and the contact 99 is similarly connected with the terminal 115 by means of the bolt 111 and the bus ar 116. The indicators, as shown, are in neutral positions in the box, and normally occupy positions at one end of the sectors, so that when it is desired to operate the semaphores. they may be moved to the opposite ends of the sectors. thus visibly indicating to the operator the renditions obtaining at the intersection. it should be understood that the indicators are always in contact with their associated sectors, one of the indicators. as shown, being provided for each street at the intersection, and so marked with the name of the street, or the direction in which the trailie moves on the. street. and the movement of the indicators does not effect the operation of the semaphores this being accomplished by depressing the buttons 112 on the contacts 98 and $151 so that the inner ends of the contact springs will engage the lower ends of the indicators and thus complete the circuit and energize the coils of the solenoids; as will be hereinafter described.

The linc wires 117 and 118 are connected with the fuses 9 which are in turn connected with the terminals 119 and 119 of the main switch by wires 121) and 121. The main switch R is connected by means of its terminals 122 and 12 1 and the wires 124 and '12:) with the main line terminals 126 and 127 in the controller box. in the box the line terminals 126 and 127 are connected respectiveiy. by nil-ans of wires 1255 and 129, with the terminals 113 and 115, and by means of wires 19,0 and 1111 with the terminals 132 and 133, respectively.

,1 bell 134 may be provided, it desirable, in the controller box with a push button 135 for operating the bell, the push button heing connected in series on the wire 136 which leads to the line terminal 127 and the other side of the line to the bell is formed by the wire 13? leading to the terminal 126.

As shown, the bell and its button are connected with the line wires but if necessary a small transformer may be connected in the line, or a battery used for supplying the current for the bell which serves to sound an alarm when the semaphores are operated.

Referring to Fig. 15, it will be observed that the lighting circuit consisting of the wires 69 and 651' which are connected with the lamps 62 within the semaphores extend to all of the lamps at the intersection and may be connected at a point near the Inastcr signal unit to the terminals 139 and 140, respectively, of the lighting switch 141 which may be suitably located on the column 1 of this unit. Wires 142 and 143 connect the other switch terminals 144 and 145 with the. line terminals 122 and 123 at the main switch. Heating coils 146 may be bridged across the line, as shown, or connected in series therewith in each oi the semaphore housings by means of the wires 147 and 148 for heating the interiors of the semaphore housings and preventing the collecting of ice and snow thereon which would obscure the signals in cold weather.

As hereinbei'ore stated, it is desirable, in order to clear the intersection for preventing accidents and any suspension of the trutlic or congestion thereof, to connect the signaling units in pairs, and for this reason, the diagonally opposite coils 23 and 25, are connected in series by means of wires 1451 and 156, and the coils 24 and 26 are connected similarly by means of wires 151 and 152.

The wire 149 leads from the terminal 132 in the controller box to the terminal 23 of the coil 23; thence from the terminal 23" of this coil to the terminal 25" of the coil 25. The wire 1511 leads from the terminal 25" of the coil 25 to the terminal 107 in the box. The terminal 107 is connected by means of the bus bar 106, sector 162, indicator 96, contact 98, bus bar 114, terminal 113 and wire 128 with the line terminal 126, and the circuit is completed when the contact 98 is depressed by the connection of the terminal 132 with the line terminal 127, thus energizing the coils 23 and 25 and operating their associated semaphores.

The wire 151 is connected with the terminal 133 in the box and leads to the terminal 24 of the coil 24, thence from the terminal 24* of the coil to the terminal 26 of the coil 26. The wire 152 leads from the terminal 26 of the coil 26 to the terminal 108 in the box which .in turn is connected by means of the bus bar 109, sector 103, indieator 97, contact 99, bus bar 116, terminal 115 and wire 129 with the line terminal 127, and the circuit is completed when the contact 99 depressed by the connection of the terminal 133 with the line terminal 126,

thus energizing the coils 24 and 26 and erating the semaphores connected therewit It should be understood that one set or pair of semaphores may be operated an instant before the operation of the other-pair, and it is possible to keep one line of tratlic open and the other closed until the congesrod 32 is raised by tion has been dissipated and the intersection entirely clearer], thus reatly facilitating the handling of the tra c.

i A suitable door 154 may be provided for the controller box and hinged at one side as shown and the door may be provided with a suitable look so that during the time the system is'not in operation the contents of the lJOX may not be tampered with.

In the form of structure shown the semaphores are designed to rotate intermittently a quarter of a revolution at a time and in only one direction when the plunger the solenoids but it is apparent that the semaphores may be made to oscillate if desirable. The semaphores are extended parallel with the open line of trallic and across the closed line of traflic, the rotation thereof serving to change the si als from sto to 0 or vice versa.v

In the event, however. oi the collision of the top of a vehicle with the semaphore, provided the latter should be extended sulficieutlygthe impact of the vehicle top with the semaphore would cause the entire head to revolve a quarter of a revolution, or less, until the obstructing portion of the vehicle may clear the semaphore, when the head would be automatically restored, hereinbe fore described.

It is conceived to be possible to modify the structure and certain of the elements,

shown herein without enlarging the scope or departing from the spirit of my invention, for it is obvious that existing conditions may render a change necessary in many cases from the particular methods shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1 A trallii: signaling system comprising signaling ucans at each of the cornci's of the intersection, each of said signaling means including a head, a semaphore movable independontly thcrcol' about a horizontal axis for directing the ourse of the trallic, wiring for electrically connecting all of said sig nals, clcitroancchu'nical actuating incaus for said se-maphorcs, and co-acting moans operatcd by said a tuating means for rcndcring said scmaphorcs opcrativc, Wliilc normally holding said scnmphorcs inopcrativc.

2. lrallirsignaling s vstcm compliHing' a plurality of signaling dcviccs composcd ol' stationary supports having horizontally movable bcads and pivotcd scmaphorcs supporlcd on said heads, said dcviccs being intcrconneeted for simultaneous and selective operation, a solenoid for actuating each of said semaphores, ratchcts for actuating said semaphores, secondary actuating means con-- necting said solenoids with said ratchcts, and mcans engaging said ratchcts for bolding said secondary actuating means against backward movement at'tcr each operation.

3. trallic signaling system comprising signaling devices at the corners at the intersection composed of stationary supports having separate heads held thereon and pivoted semaphores on said heads, clcct romechanical actuating means for-said semaphores, and auxiliary means connected with said clcctro-nicchanical means and opcrable thereby for preventing thc'lmclnvard movement of said semnphorcs.

4. A trallic directing system comprising n plurality of signaling dcviccs composed of stationary supports having heads held thcrcon provided with pivoted semaphores, intorconnectcd olcch'icnl actuating means for said semaphores, .i ntermittcntl v operable clcctro-mechanical means for said scmaphorcs Wllll said actuating means, and codpcrating l'atcllctmeans connected with said intcrmittcntly operating means for effecting th'c forward movement and prevcnling the backward movcmcnt of said si-maphores. v

5. A trallic directing system comprising a plurality of signaling devices composed of stationary supports, a hcad on cncll of said supports, said means having pivoted semaphorcs supportcd tlu-rcon for directing the course of trnllic, a solenoid mounted on each of said heads and having clectrical connections for cttccting the operation thereof, an operating clement attached to the inner and ot' cacli of said semaphores, a ratchet ele- 'mcnt also attached thereto, slidable armatu'res for said solenoids connected with said opel'ating mcmbcrs, and means For engagemerttfiavith said ratchet element ahd adapted to control the bacluvard movcmcnt of said opcrating clcmcnts.

(h trallic signaling systcm comprising stationary supporting mcans at tbc corners of the intersection, a horizontally pivotcrl semapborc on each of said heads, a solcnoid supported on each of said heads, a rcciprocating armalnrc l'or cach of said solcnoids, an opcrating mcmbcr attached to curl: of said scnmphorcs and connected with each of said urinaturczs, means cngagingsaid opcr aling nn-mbcr and opcrablc thcrcby, said nil-ans bring udnplcd lo conlrol the backward movcnicnl of said armulurcs l'or rcglr laling thimovcmcnl of said scmuphorcs.

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